Random Access

Tuesday – 17 August 2010
It’s another good-looking day here in the valley.

And, because it was playing on the radio, during this morning’s commute:

Last night, nox_aeternus and his son, Josh, came over to watch football and play with LEGO, respectively. We watched the Giants take on the Jets at the New Meadowlands Stadium, home to both teams — last night, the Jets were the “home” team. Both teams looked good, but the Giants seemed a little more hungry for the win… or perhaps they were just out for revenge after the hit that QB Eli Manning took near the end of the first half. Either way, the Giants came away with the win: 31-16.

Workout
Monday’s step count: 4,648

Stray Toasters

• My sister-in-law is coming to town tonight; I need to find some suitable four-color print entertainment for her.
• I also need to figure out what’s wrong with the water cannon sprinkler in the front yard – it’s not working properly. I spent about ten minutes last night trying to suss it out in the dark. Yay for home ownership!
• 
• astronautdinosaur.com – The Art of Scott Listfield
• Where Have All the Giant Robots Gone?
• Dress Code: When You’re Sick of All Your Clothes
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Rochdale man ‘took 200 fireworks on US plane”
• 
• Study finds fraud, abuse in MD energy program
• Musical Interlude:
  • Museum Acquires Storied Trove of Performances by Jazz Greats
  • Your Favorite ‘Great Unknowns’ in Jazz
• Dexter Has Nothing on These Serial Killers
• U.S. Said to Plan Easing Rules for Travel to Cuba

Namaste.

Current Mood:  good

Thursday – 01 July 2010
It’s kind of nice – and refreshing – to have the start of a brand-new month be an NBN Thursday. It puts a nice spin on things, I think.

It is also Canada Day.

What…?!
Alpha Flight is a team Canadian super-heroes.
(There’s even a maple leaf on Guardian’s costume!)
To me, that’s a “Win-Win.”

Last night, SaraRules fired up the grill and cooked up some mighty tasty burgers. (Have I mentioned: “Coolest Wife Ever,” lately?) After dinner, we headed up to her parents’ place for a bit — We spent some time with the grand’rents and I helped her dad troubleshoot a new wireless router he’d picked up.

Back at home, we wound down the evening with Top Gear and comic books (me) and ice cream (again, me). I tried to make it through the first two segments of The Late Late Show… and failed miserably. So, off to bed.

Workout
Yesterday’s step count: 3,937

Stray Toasters

• Someone brought doughnuts to the office this morning.  NOM!
• Again in the “Coolest Wife Ever” category (or at least the “Human of the Day” category): SaraRules just messaged me, asking if I wanted her to pick up tickets for The Last Airbender for tonight.
• LEGO + Futurama = Something Like This
• Toyota says 270,000 vehicles have faulty engines
• Scotty Doesn’t Know (featuring Matt Damon)
• For applevenus: A whole blog about the most science fictional garment of all time: The Unitard
• It seems as though the redesign of Wonder Woman’s outfit stirred up a lot of controversy yesterday. I found it all rather amusing.
• By way of SaraRules: Street-Legal Electric TRON Lightcycles for sale on eBay
• A Mild-Mannered Reporter: For the greater good
• From the Council for Better Driving: You Only Think Your Commute Sucks

Namaste.

Monday – 28 June 2010
Another work week begins. I’m trying to decide if it’s going to be a full 40-hour week or if it’s trending towards 36 or less. At this point, I’m feeling like the “36-” idea sounds pretty damned good.

I also feel like I really want to be over this sinus congestion. I’m not sure if it’s due to something that SaraRules brought back with her from California or due to the weather rollercoaster (of love! Say what?!) that we had here a week or so ago. Either way, hopefully Sudafed can keep me from looking like a Garbage Pail Kids throwback.

For some reason, I woke up this morning with Shawn Colvin’s Steady On running through my head. Good thing I like the song.

Yesterday, zeeke, applevenus and Matt came by for brunch… and to help me figure out what was wrong with the sprinkler system. It basically came down to the lawn care equivalent of a PEBCAK — As I never adjusted the solenoids on the valves for the system at the Taylorsville house, I never knew that they could be opened to help drain the system. Fortunately, zeeke and Matt knew this. A few twists of the screwdriver an not only did the waters flow, but there was actual, honest-to-goodness water pressure that went along with it! (The head in front of the sitting room windows looked more like a riot water cannon than lawn sprinkler… but at least it worked.) Thus, I’m making zeeke and Matt co-Humans of the Day for yesterday.

Later in the day, SaraRules and I went to see Knight and Day. Yes, I know… a lot of people think that Tom Cruise is Tom Cruise Crazy, but I don’t have a beef with the guy. In fact, despite my theory that many Tom Cruise movies were actually the same movie:

Young hotshot (fill-in-the-job title) is known for not playing by the rules.
He gets a reputation for being arrogant and/or reckless.
He is given (fill-in-the-task) and muffs it ~or~ he crosses the wrong person.
He struggles to make a comeback (Don’t call it a comeback, he’s been here for years…).
He saves the day by the end of the movie.

…I found Knight and Day to be fun and entertaining; it was like a mix of “Mission: Impossible meets True Lies.”

And, just how many movies does the above formula work for?  Let’s see:

• Top Gun — young hotshot pilot
• The Color of Money — young hotshot pool hustler
• Cocktail — young hotshot bartender
• Days of Thunder — young hotshot race car driver
• A Few Good Men — young hotshot lawyer
• The Firm — young hotshot lawyer (again!)
• Mission: Impossible — young hotshot spy
• Jerry McGuire — young hotshot sports agent

Just saying.

Anyway… the movie was fun and made for good lazy afternoon fare.

We wrapped up the day with dinner at the in-laws’ place and a movie, Shutter Island, which holds up as a solid film even on subsequent viewings.

Workout
Yesterday’s step count: 4,653

Stray Toasters

• Senate stalwart Robert Byrd dies at 92
• For SaraRules, by way of MarknTyme: The Roots (on Yo Gabba Gabba)
• I watched the first half of the Germany vs. England World Cup match last night, before bed. It was good.
• 14 Warm-Weather Style Tips
• A Neuroscientist Uncovers a Dark Secret
• For Mark D.: SyFy brings us Tiffany vs. Debbie Gibson. How much 80s-nostalgia camp can you handle?
• 
• Steampunk Art Show and Sale
• 30 post-apocalyptic visions of the 21st Century
  I have seen twelve (12) of these films.
• World Leaders Agree on Timeline for Cutting Deficits
• Nervous About Alzheimer’s? Coffee May Help

And that’s good for now.

Namaste.

Sunday – 20 June 2010
It’s Father’s Day. With that in mind, I’d like to wish a very Happy Father’s Day to the fathers in my family:

Today’s “Human of the Day” award goes out to these guys.

Yesterday was a good day.  It started with a trip to the Downtown Farmer’s Market with SaraRules and the in-laws. They’ve expanded the market a bit, so that it now takes over all of Pioneer Park. Of course, that moved the “fringe” artisans from the area at the south end of the park to the adjacent corners and streets.

Next, I headed up to Dr. Volt’s to run another HeroClix tournament. The format was the “HeroClix Wrestling Federation,” in which players had six figures, up to specific point values, and played them tag-team style against another player’s six-figures — when a figure took damage, the player rolled a six-sided die to see which other figure “tagged in.” It is always a fun format to play, and is pretty well-received by the players. I even got a chance to play — the bye rounds, but still… I got to play.  I went with a Sinestro Corps-themed team:

• Yellow Lantern

  (gallery aa-figure-044)

• Scarecrow

  (gallery bn-figure-003)

• Sinestro

  (gallery cr-figure-055)

• Sinestro Corps Batman

  (gallery aa-figure-100)

• Parallax

  (gallery cd-figure-219)

• Superman Prime

  (gallery aa-figure-060)

After the tourney, SaraRules and I went out for a bite to eat and then headed downtown to check out the 2010 Utah Foster Care Chalk Art Festival.  We arrived too late to see Team Chalkolicous in action, but we still strolled through and took a look at all of the pieces that people did over the course of the event: Pictures here.

Later in the evening, we finally got around to seeing Kick-Ass. It was quite fun and, as I recall, it adapted the source material fairly well… with a couple of changes.

This morning, I woke up and strolled up to Pin-Up Girl Espresso.  Christy fixed me an Iced Caramel Silk, which was quite good. Shortly after I got back home, the in-laws dropped by to chat for a bit while out running errands. Then, breakfast — Blueberry muffins FTW!!!!

Next on the agenda: A trip to The Garden of Sweden and maybe even a home improvement store or two.  Win-Win!

Workout
Yesterday’s step count: 6,517

Stray Toasters

• Top 10 Dads in Science Fiction and Fantasy
  (…and just look at who made Dad #2 on the list.  Boo-yah!)
• Pulling Museum Mile Uptown
• From the “Duh…!” file: BP CEO’s yacht outing infuriates Gulf residents
• Baghdad Nights Glitter, Behind Shatterproof Glass
• Students with Autism Learn How to Succeed at Work
• Reflections in the Facebook Mirror
• Were Botticelli’s Venus and Mars Stoned?

Namaste.

Current Mood:  relaxed

Thursday – 17 June 2010
So… it seems as though today is actually my mother’s last day of work.  She had told us “the 16th” when we visited last month, so that’s what I went with. *shrug* Whether it was yesterday, today (or even tomorrow), she’s put in nearly 40 years in the public education system, which is a long time to work in any one job.

I’m also hoping that today actually is an NBN Thursday. I think that last week’s deviation from the norm has affected this week… at least, that’s what I’m attributing the week’s problems to. Last night, SaraRules and I came home from work to find water in the basement. On the floor.

*braincramp*

It wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been.  It appeared that the feed tube for the swamp cooler disconnected from the pipe that goes to the roof and sprayed over the floor in the unfinished portion of the basement. Fortunately, most of it stayed in the area where there’s a floor drain. Thank God.  The rest of the water flowed onto another part of the floor that goes under the stairs that lead to the main floor (concrete slab) and a little got onto the landing at the bottom of the stairs — about ten or so square feet of carpet.

*grblsnrkx*

I headed back to work to get the ShopVac that I had borrowed from my father-in-law, while SaraRules headed to Target to get a couple of fans. We vacuumed water out of the carpet and padding. Twice. Then, we set up the fans to dry things out. We’ll see how much – if any – vacuuming we need to do tonight.

All things being equal, I consider it no small blessing that the water was confined to a couple of areas and that the “damage” was not nearly as bad as it could have been.

Workout
Yesterday’s step count: 5,937

Human of the Day
My mother.

Stray Toasters

• This morning’s musical selection was co-selected by SaraRules:
• Oh, snap!
• By way of SaraRules: Redoing those ’80s ‘Dos
• ‘The Golden Ticket’ Is Finally Unwrapped
• The newest addition to my Green Lantern Corps arrived yesterday: Kilowog
  

  

• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: B.C. school yearbooks to be reprinted after teacher cut out student’s photo
• Poster for a notional ‘Left 4 Dead’ movie
• 
• CD on one side, vinyl record on the other
• The Bell Tolls: Injuries, money factor in expanded NFL season

Namaste.

Wednesday – 16 June 2010
Today is not only (Sushi and) Comics Wednesday.
Nor is it just my mother and stepfather’s anniversary.
Today also marks my mother’s last-day-EVER of teaching.

I hereby declare today “Triple-Win Wednesday”.
I also declare my mother today’s Human of the Day.  (Yes, I’m biased. But, it’s my blog; I’m allowed to be.)
And for today’s musical fare: Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine:

Last night, SaraRules and I had dinner with the in-laws, including the brothers-in-law and Swiz. Grilled Salmon. Salad. Asparagus. Homemade rice pilaf. Mojitos. It was a good dinner, all around. And, for dessert, Logan and Swiz made mini-pecan tarts, which were very tasty.

Back at home, SaraRules and I enjoyed a quiet (read: “uneventful”) evening. After the headaches of Monday evening, it was a very welcome change of pace. We wound down the night with last Thursday’s episode of Burn Notice.

Workout
Yesterday’s step count: 3,987

Stray Toasters

• There were numerous articles in the news yesterday about lightning striking the statue of Jesus near I-75 in Cincinnati yesterday. That reminded me of two things:
  1. Captain Marvel Jesus
  2. Big Butter Jesus
• I saw an ad on Facebook for Pretzel M&M’s which somehow led me to the thought “Pretzelcoatl.”
• ‘Godfather of the Dead’ George A. Romero Talks Zombies
• The new “Hope” trailer for the upcoming Star Wars: The Old Republic has been released/leaked.
• Miniature sit-com sets
• After talking with the service techs who came to the house to work on the swamp cooler, I feel quite justified in my opinion that our home’s previous owners were perfectly satisfied to half-ass their way through a home “improvement” projects.
• Sperm whale feces ‘helps oceans absorb CO₂‘
• 
  
• Shortest-possible Monopoly game
• New FDA website lets public find drug safety info

Namaste.

Saturday – 08 May 2010
Today is my brother and step-mother’s birthday.

This morning, SaraRules and I went to Wasatch Community Gardens‘ Plant Sale – SaraRules wanted to get some plants for her new garden. We then headed up to Millcreek Cafe and Eggworks for breakfast. Then back home for a bit until…

…I headed to Dr. Volt’s for today’s tournament: 300-point, sealed event. I picked up a couple of boxes, so that I could play the bye round. I drew another Kal-L Black Lantern figure… which I wound up trading to Jeremiah for a Black Hand figure. Leaving me two chases to track down.

Stray Toasters

• I owe Ms. Galadriel a huge debt of gratitude for her suggestion of taking 800mg of Ibuprofen to help with the pain and swelling of last night’s sore throat. She gets my vote for Human of the Day.

This evening, I’m not sure what manner of trouble we’ll be getting into, but I believe that it involves a trip to the local Home Depot or Lowe’s.

And with that…

Namaste.

Current Mood:  good

Wednesday – 21 April 2010
Another Comics and Sushi Wednesday is upon us.
And, it’s also Melissa S.’s birthday:

Last night, Chris and I were supposed to get together to play dolls. Yesterday afternoon, I got a call from Jeremiah – one of the guys from Dr. Volt’s – asking if we would be interested in checking out the store’s display copy of the soon-to-be-released Blackest Night set.

Um… YES!
Duh.

So, after work – and a quick dinner with SaraRules – Chris and I met at Jeremiah’s. And we saw the new hotness. And it was good. Selah. I’m looking forward to picking up this set. After we shot the bull for a while, we finally decided to play a game. 1200 points. Chris vs Jeremiah and me. (Pictures here.) In the hour-and-a-half we played, there was only one casualty: Jeremiah’s Sinestro Corps Batman. And then it was time to put away our toys and go home. It was, nevertheless, fun.

I’ll take a moment here to thank SaraRules for suggesting that I take the evening off from the hullaballoo of packing and do something fun. Best. Wife. Ever. In fact, let’s just cut to the chase and make her today’s Human of the Day.

Stray Toasters

• The Ravens’ 2010 schedule has been posted.
• I think that I want (at least) one of these t-shirts.
• I have a couple of guys hanging out at my desk today:



• By way of nyx_hemsut comes ModHero
  • gazehound: Check out the upper left corner
  • MarknTyme: Check out the lower left corner
• Balloon hoax dad must pay restitution
• m2ke pointed out: Subway Etiquette Posters
  I need to adapt some of these to be “Office Etiquette Posters.”
• 
• Apple Didn’t Leak the iPhone — and Why That Matters
• Maddox has a new item on his site: Safety Tips for Safe Kids!
• Technical Difficulties at the Supreme Court
• The Alot Is Better Than You at Everything, courtesy of dga

Namaste.

Fait accompli.
“It is finished.”

After nearly six (6) hours of prep, cutting, hammering and gluing… the dining room floor has been installed!

SaraRules and I met Minion #2 — who is steadily working his way up to “Henchman #1″ — this morning and headed to Home Depot to pick up supplies for the job. Quick trip in and out.

Our next stop: The house. We unloaded our car and the truck and got on with the gettin’ on. We pulled up the last few feet of tack strip and decided on a game plan. We started from the north dining room wall and worked our way back towards the wall shared with the guest bedroom.

How does it look?  Take a gander for yourself:

• Old and Busted

• New Hotness

We think it looks pretty damned good. The last touch is to find a chair rail that we like and apply it to the walls.

All-in-all, it was a busy — but very productive — day.

SaraRules just nominated Minion #2 as today’s Human of the Day for all of his help in getting things done this morning/afternoon. I can’t say that I disagree with her on that.

Current Mood:  tired

Tuesday – 30 March 2010
“Wow.”
That’s really the best way to describe how the morning has gone. There were some… networking issues that took a little longer to sort out than planned. They have been dealt with and all is well with the world once more. At least, for the time being.

::: hangs up cape :::

Last night was relatively quiet. I hung out at home while SaraRules was at a club meeting. Then we met up at the mall and did a little shopping. Back home for some TV and downtime. I also worked on the railroad building for the Dr. Volt’s masterboard.

Stray Toasters

• Today is m2ke‘s  farewell lunch. Pawit’s. Should be good.
• For reasons relating to solving this morning’s network snafu, m2ke is also my Human of the Day.
• For SaraRules: Eagles sending quarterback Donovan McNabb to Raiders? , by way of everydave
• This morning, I had Nelly’s Shake Ya Tailfeather playing in my head. That was a good way to start the day.
• Sony’s PS3 Update Could Affect Supercomputer Users
• Xbox 360 to Accept Any and All USB Storage Starting April 6^th
• My new NFL jerseys have shipped. They should arrive early next week. This is good.
• Wye Oak: Tiny Desk Concert
• ::: This Space Left Intentionally Blank :::
• 
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Court OKs Repeated Tasering of Pregnant Woman
• My friend, Melissa S., posted a link about this fashion atrocity – which is apparently called a “Peekaroo” – on Facebook:
  

  With it, you can re-enact your very own version of the chest-burster scene from Alien.

• First Listen: Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings
• Gadget and video game-themed baked goods

Namaste.

Huh.  I just noticed that I’m actually dressed like my icon, with the exception of the tie color being different.

Wednesday – 13 January 2010
Midweek and all’s pretty much well. On top of that, it’s Comics and Sushi Wednesday, so there should be added goodness to the day. My Prerogative came on the radio during the morning commute. It made me smile… and sing along. It was a good way to kick off the morning and prep for a day in the trenches.

Last night, Chris came over to finish our HeroClix “Arkham Asylum Breakout” game. He won… which was totally expected – I had three figures to his eight – but, the fact that it took him a tad over 30 minutes to do so made me feel good. We need to schedule the other side of the fight, with me running Batman and company and him running Gotham City’s least desirable citizens.

Stray Toasters

• Today is Delta Sigma Theta’s (1, 2) Founders’ Day
• Haiti’s quake devestation emerges
• The Great Joe Rollino, Bender of Steel, is Dead at 104
  Mr. Rollino will be awarded today’s Human of the Day award, posthumously.
• 2010: Living in the Future
• …which, naturally, leads us to The Future Soon
• Nintendo helps savvy singer Beyonce step up her style game
• Sarah Palin Makes Fox News Debut, Slams Obama, Critics
  (But, is anyone really surprised by this…?  No?  I didn’t think so.)
• I’ve never really been a big fan of Conan O’Brien, but I have to give him kudos for his resignation letter, as posted by The Grey Lady.
• Snubs – part of the diplomatic game
• Nintendo Wii to Get Netflix Streaming

That’s good for now.

Sunday – 20 December 2009
Yesterday was a good – and full – day. I started at 0830… and was on the move until around 2300. But, it was worth it.

I started the morning with a call to my uncle; it was his birthday. SaraRules and I talked with him for a few minutes before we headed out to start our respective days: She was shopping with her mother; I was having coffee with Chris and Perry. After that, Chris and I headed up to Dr. Volt’s for another HeroClix tourney (pictures here). This time we had four people (including Chris) show – technically, it was five people… but the fifth showed up after I had started the first matches, so he opted not to play. He said that he’s in for the next tournament, though. Chris won the event, going 3-0.  He played Josh (one of the new arrivals) who until that game was also 2-0. Josh took home the Fellowship prize.

After I dropped Chris at home, I came home and then SaraRules and I headed to Five Guys for burgers and fries. They were, as usual, quite tasty. Back home to change and get ready to head out to the Utah Symphony Holiday Pops with Jerry! concert. It was a lot of fun, with a lot of good music… but, the best part of the concert came just after the concert:

I was walking backstage with SaraRules (she had to put away some work material), when we came to a doorway that led to steps from one of the upper tiers. A few people exited the door, among them an older lady in a red dress.

She turned and looked at me.
I looked at her.

She looked at me… like she knew me.
I looked at her… blankly.

She looked at me… like she knew me… and came over and took my hand.
I stood there… still not knowing her… not quite sure what to say.

“You don’t remember me, do you?  I’m Lotta Mae¹ ” she smiled and said.
“I don’t believe that we’ve met before, ma’am,” I responded, warmly and with a smile.
“Oh… you’re not Eric, are you?”
“No, ma’am… I’m not.”
“Oh, well, then… I’m sorry.”

And, with that she walked off.

SaraRules and I continued down the hallway, she with a grin on her face. I was still completely in the dark as to exactly why, but I did find the situation a bit comical. After we got to her desk, SaraRules explained that after thinking about it, she understood why the woman thought that I was this “Eric” chap. As we were walking out, we saw Eric and she introduced us. Eric…

• …is roughly my height
• …is roughly my build
• …is very similar to my complexion (Yep! There’s another Black guy in Utah!)
• …also has a shaved head
• …was also wearing a black suit.

That’s about where the similarities end:

• He was in a white shirt; I was in a white/purple-striped shirt
• He had a gold jacquard tie; mine was with purple with white/grey squares.
• He was clean-shaven; I have a goatee.

When SaraRules explained to him what had just happened, he broke out in hearty laughter. I did, too. Again. We came to the conclusion that we were apparently Mirror Universe opposites and that Lotta Mae had failed to notice that I was actually the “evil twin.” (And, I actually made a Driving Miss Daisy joke to SaraRules about it on the way back to the car, as well.)

But, it was a heckuva funny way to end the evening. And for that reason, I’m naming Lotta Mae and Eric as co-Humans of the Day.

Stray Toasters

• The Bears – Ravens game has been postponed until 1615 (EST), due to weather.
• Bryan Singer on X-Men: First Class
• By way of Rachel: Star Wars Weather Forecast
  (Enter your city in the text box at the top of the page.)
• ‘Alien’ Screenwriter Dan O’Bannon, Dead at 63
• 99 Luftballons, Side-by-Side Comparison – the German translation and the bastardized version that we got in English.
• 
• British troops to get first new camouflage in 40 years
• Traveler’s worst nightmare: East Coast snowfall cancels over 800 flights
• A Lament for Saab

And now, I believe that it’s time for coffee and some form of breakfast.

Namaste.

¹ – I’m not sure that’s how her name is spelled; since this is my story, I get to spell it the way I want. Hopefully, I’m at least close to how it’s supposed to be spelled.

Current Mood:  lazy

Tuesday – 15 December 2009
Back into the working grind.  Not too much to plow through… aside from about 40 emails. Those are easy enough to deal with.

Last night, for the first time in at least two years, I made “Chocolate Jolt” coffee bean-infused chocolates. This time, I tried something a little different – I added mint, kind of like Andes Chocolates. I haven’t taste-tested them yet, but they seemed to turn out alright.

Last night’s excursion to Barnes & Noble proved unfruitful… at least as far as I was concerned. SaraRules, however, had a big score and was able to find [SPOILER DELETED], which [SPOILER DELETED] should think is pretty awesome.

On the other hand, after a couple of calls to local Graywhale CD Exchange stores, I have finally found a copy of Handel’s Messiah: A Soulful Celebration! It took the clerk I spoke with a few minutes to locate it – for some reason, it was put in the “World Music” section. *shrug* “Ours is not to reason why…” He’s holding it behind the counter for me; I will have to see about getting it at lunch or after work.

Stray Toasters

• At dga‘s suggestion, I’m wearing a suit today; he and other professors decided to wear them to the final exam that they were proctoring “…just to entertain the students.” I wear mine around here, from time to time, “just because.” That… and the fact that it tends to make people nervous. (That’s really a nice fringe benefit.)
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Haagen-Dazs opens no-Indians-allowed store in Delhi
• nyx_hemsut sent me a couple of amusing links:
  • From Not Always Right: “The Fourth Is Not Strong in This One…”
  • Zombie ‘Star Wars’ Posters Are Beautifully Disturbing
• From the “Who Wants to Live Forever?” file: Turritopsis nutricula: The world’s only ‘immortal’ creature
• By way of joet come today’s “Humans of the Day” award winners: Mystery Couple Starts “Magical” Chain Reaction
• Unplugged: The Web’s Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy of 2008
• CoH is doing free character server transfers, through the end of January!

Namaste.

Wednesday – 21 Oct0ber 2009
Midweek and all appears to be well.

And it’s Comics and Sushi Wednesday, to boot.

Last night was my night to cook dinner. I pondered the issue all day and came up with “Fish…” as an idea. Then I came to the realization: I’ve never cooked fish – other than Van de Camp’s fish fillets or fish sticks – before and I wasn’t sure that SaraRules wanted to play guinea pig. So, I went with chicken instead. I made a dry rub, put it in a plastic bag, tossed the chicken in the bag to season it and threw the pieces of chicken in the oven.  Then I went to work on the rest of dinner: Green beans, cooked in chicken broth, and pasta (angel hair and thin spaghetti). When the chicken came out of the oven, it smelled good. It tasted good, too… at least my piece did. SaraRules had gotten a piece that was VERY heavily seasoned and was very salty. Looking at it, I realized that she had gotten the first piece of chicken to which I had applied the rub; it got the lion’s share of the dry spices, despite my attempts to remove most of them. She ate it quietly, suffering in silence. I traded pieces of chicken with her, as mine was nowhere near as salty-tasting as hers. That seemed to go over better. Other than that, it was a good dinner, though. I just need to remember to watch out for the first piece of meat that gets seasoned with a dry rub next time…

Stray Toasters

• For SaraRules and janietrain – Dolly Parton: NPR Staffers Celebrate ‘Dolly’
• If you ever wonder what “Fighting for freedom” means, take a listen to this testimony from an 86-year-old World War II veteran, speaking at a public meeting on Maine’s marriage equality bill:

  He wins today’s “Human of the Day” award.

• Turtles prefer ‘city life’
  Of course, this isn’t exactly news, as we have long known about sewer-dwelling, pizza-eating ninja turtles.
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Yahoo hires lap-dancers to entertain at its open, inclusive Hack Day event
  Be sure to click through the links at the bottom of the article (before the comments)
• Vatican welcomes Anglicans into Catholic Church
• Amelia Earhart: Pioneer of Style
• From xkcd: “More Accurate”

  

• dmmaus has an interesting take on “a fundamental difference between Australians and Americans.”
• Essential plot twists for writers
• Bionic Eye Opens New World of Sight for Blind

Hm… it looks like it’s just going to be “Comics Wednesday.”  Oh, well.

Namaste.

Current Mood:  good

Wednesday – 12 August 2009
Midweek and all’s well.

Last week, before heading out of town, I had requested that some job-related information be  faxed to my office. As of Thursday morning, nothing had been received. *shrug* Monday, still nothing. Yesterday, nada. So, this morning, I called to inquire about it. The person I talked with said that, according to his records, nothing had been sent. *sigh* He did, however, say that he would see about getting it out this morning.

Last night, Chris came over to play dolls HeroClix. I got to use my two newest buildings, the second of which is still a bit “under construction” (still needs a couple of interior walls placed and a roof). We went with Checkmate (me) vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. (Chris) theme, because who doesn’t like the idea of “spy vs. spy?” To be honest, I totally expected to get thrashed – I hadn’t played Checkmate as a team and Chris is better than “pretty good” with S.H.I.E.L.D. To my surprise, I did alright. We called the game because of time; Chris won, but my team held its own. If we were to replay the match, I might go with a slightly different lineup -mainly, replacing the old Checkmate Agent and Medic figures with something more effective – but on the whole, I was happy with the team I had. (Pictures)

Day Eleventy-Seven of the Great HDD Recovery… and things are proceeding. Slowly, but progress is being made. And, for their help in scraping data from the old drive, m2ke and Chad (co-worker) are getting nods for Human of the Day.

Workout
I neglected to note that Wes and I went to the gym yesterday afternoon. We had a brief – VERY brief – workout:

• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Compound Row: 3 sets/ 10 reps
  • 1 set @ 130lbs
  • 2 sets @ 110 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell, with Shoulder Press): 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs

Weight (morning): 182.5 lbs

Stray Toasters

• Bonnie Raitt and Taj Mahal were on The Late Late Show last night; they performed She Caught the Katy.

• “Finagle” is a fun word.
• Geneva Conventions’ struggle for respect
• Muslim women uncover myths about the hijab
• Periodic Table sweater
  • Periodic Table of Comic Book Elements
• Are we on the brink of creating a computer with a human brain?
• The fax I was expecting came in this afternoon… and it wasn’t exactly in the format I expected, but at this point, I’m just glad to have it.
• IMG MGMT: Life as a Woman, Hedy Lamarr
• Thieves Cashing in on Stolen Clunkers in Germany
• Abjection Sustained
• Hard drive + Freezer = partial data recovery
  (WHO KNEW!?)

Namaste.